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Discussing Modern Agriculture

During the recent 2015 Annual Meat Conference in Nashville, Tenn., the checkoff helped educate key retail operators about how the beef community is debunking myths – like those about so-called “factory farming” – while communicating research that shows how modern agriculture today is more sustainable than in the past. A panel discussion brought together the entire agricultural supply chain and covered multi-species, which panel discussed a variety of topics, including how the entire supply chain, including retailers, can help debunk myths like factory farming or suggestions that raising beef isn’t sustainable.

Certifying Veal Quality

A number of leading veal feed companies are performing certification activities with veal farmers under the beef checkoff’s recently revised Veal Quality Assurance protocols. These certification efforts will support efforts to reach the goal of having at least 50 percent of all veal marketed as VQA-certified by the end of 2015. Outreach includes veterinarians, who play a key role in ensuring quality production practices for animal care, food safety and the environment are met or exceeded; and dairy producers, who play a vital role in providing healthy calves to the veal industry. Awareness of the VQA program is being driven with the help of agricultural and dairy media. A checkoff news release about the updated VQA program appeared in “Hoard’s Dairymen” “Ag Connections” and “Farm Progress” publications, and the checkoff is securing additional media placements.

For additional information, check out these sites:

The beef production story is told through FactsAboutBeef.com, a site which offers information, photos, graphics, facts and figures, personal accounts and other resources that combine to tell the story of how beef gets from producers pastures to consumers’ plates.

Foodservice professionals, including those in school foodservice, can go to www.beeffoodservice.org for with information about beef safety, cuts, facts and trends, as well as recipes and training materials.

Professionals in foodservice, retail and manufacturing industries can go to www.beefinnovationsgroup.com to find beef product ideas and tools to make new products successful in the market.

Beef retailers can turn to www.beefretail.org for beef cut and product information, marketing research, and tips, instruction and tools for merchandising beef.

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) is a misunderstood but potentially serious animal disease. For the most accurate information, turn to www.bseinfo.org, an informational site housing current information regarding for consumers, producers and beef industry representatives.

To address the nutrition and health challenges facing today’s youth, www.school-wellness.org provides a resource for a variety of tools to help teachers, school-wellness leaders, health professionals and families.

Addressing beef nutrition with a focus on the classroom, www.teachfree.com offer materials to order or download; serves as a resource for teachers with a large selection of free posters, brochures, and teaching kits about beef and human nutrition.